Global Research Reveals Jakarta as World's Most Severely Subsiding City

Coastal regions worldwide are gradually sinking, with Jakarta experiencing one of the largest average annual declines in land subsidence.

A study conducted by researchers from Munich and New Orleans measured sea and land level movements. They found densely populated coastal areas face an average sea level rise of approximately 0.64cm per year, affecting millions of people. Led by Julius Oelsmann of the German Geodetic Research Institute (DGFI-TUM), the research revealed 71% of the global coastal population resides in affected areas.

Jakarta’s land subsides at 1.3cm annually, with Tianjin, China, and Bangkok, Thailand, showing similar rates. However, subsidence in Jakarta is uneven: some areas sink over 3.8cm per year while others rise, according to Earth on 29 May 2026.

Similar findings were observed in coastal regions from Bangladesh and Thailand to Egypt and Nigeria, where sea levels rise by about 0.76cm annually. In the US, Netherlands, and Italy, land subsidence reaches 0.5cm annually.

The primary cause is groundwater extraction, which compacts subsurface layers and lowers surface levels. Oil and gas production also contributes, with effects akin to fluid extraction from wells. Additional factors include the weight of buildings, skyscrapers, roads, and infrastructure, as well as natural sediment compaction in delta cities. Slow geological processes, such as adjustments following the melting of ice sheets thousands of years ago, also play a role.

While some areas, such as northern Sweden and Finland, experience land uplift faster than sea-level rise due to post-Ice Age recovery, such phenomena affect fewer than 10% of coastal residents.